A Heart that Might Explode

I have decided to label 2012 as the year of fruitfulness. My friends took the Lord’s commands seriously when He said be fruitful and multiply.

Actually, not only have my friends taken that command seriously, the families at my church have also taken it very seriously and quite literally, BCF is busting at the seams with newborns and babies on the way. After every couple has announced their pregnancy at church, I’ve been known to joke by saying that as many babies are being born, that many weddings should be happening. Of course, that would mean more babies, but where’s the harm in that? Hey, it could happen. You just never know.

One of the major bonuses of not traveling this summer is that I’ve been able to meet, hold and love on some really special newborns. I would not have wanted to miss their debuts for any reason, and by not being gone 24/7 allowed me to be present. Can you say joy?

I happen to be a lover of all things babies, and two very special babies are now a part of my normal, everyday life. In fact, every now and then I’ll get a text picture with one of their precious faces just saying hi. It makes my week. My baby love tank is, needless to say, exploding. 

Please meet…

Olivia Jasper.

Jen and I met in college and clicked instantly. What’s been so fun, is that I’ve watched she and Ryan through every stage of their relationship from the beginning, so to see them enter parenthood has been so fun. Jen is one of those friends from college that stuck. You know what I mean? Our friendship didn’t end when college did and for that, I am so grateful. Olivia is a doll, and just the other night, I got to sit on Jen’s couch and hold that girl for a good long while. It made my heart so happy.

Every baby girl needs a large pink bow.

Next came Miss Ellie Paige Isaminger...

If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, or you know me personally, Jennifer isn’t new to you. She and I have been BFF since the womb. You think I’m lying, but I’ve never not known her and we have literally done life together since pre-school. Since our parents were best friends as well, time was the true test of our friendship, however, time has only proved to make our friendship stronger and better than ever. I know how sappy this is sounding, but I’m trying to convey just how much she means to me. She’s literally the sister I never had. We’ve stayed best friends through college, marriage, distance and now motherhood. So, needless to say, Ellie is the niece I don’t have. And I love her so much. In fact, it’s pretty safe to say I’m obsessed with her. I got to be there the day she was born and I’ll never, ever forget that day. It was love at first sight. 

Our newest sidekick.

I’ve come to that season in my life when the majority of my friends are married and are starting to have kids. While Satan could do a number on my heart and emotions and whisper all sorts of lies to me about being left behind, I’ve chosen and had the complete opposite reaction. I’ve never been so thankful for my friends and their sweet families. Getting to watch them grow in this season and sharing in that joy with them has brought me nothing but praise. At no other time in my life would I get a chance to love these babies like my own.

I’m so thankful that even though I have no kids of my own, the Lord has given me a plentiful amount to love on through my friends and through my church.

Being a seriously multi-generational church that believes in community, my love tank is filled to the brim because I get to do life with all manner of folks. The majority of them being young families with young kiddos that are cuter than snot. (And really, who ever came up with that saying anyway? Snot is not cute.) Not only do I get to hold and love on some sweet babies, I get to sing, skip and play silly games with the most lively pre-school sweets none to man.

A few babysitting adventures...

A small glimpse into Bayou City Nights. Our church's first VBS. Talk about a lot of kiddos! It was a really great three hot nights.

Meet Brennan. My little buddy. The fact that one of my best friends growing up has a child old enough to go to kindergarten this year boggles my mind. I love them.

I may not have any of my own, but I am spoiled with all these little loves. How could I ever complain?

Three Months Later

It's been three months, folks.

Three months since I've even seen an empty blogger template.

I was about to look up synonyms for the word neglected, but that seemed too depressing, and well, actions speak louder than words anyway, and my actions have left this blog void of any new material so to talk about it would do no good.

I just needed to get on here and write instead.

But what the heck do I write about? Where do I even begin?

This summer has kept me plenty busy with weddings, and babies and Bible study, oh my! And now I'm kicking myself for not documenting those. Oh well. You win some and you lose some.

And truth be told, I didn't even put one foot on a plane, bus, boat or any other commercial vehicle this summer. Nada. Didn't visit one exotic location. Can you say bizarre? After all my crazy summers.

ALL of that to say this, I'm back.

At least I hope so. I hate nothing more than empty promises, but for five years this blog has been such a wonderful outlet for me personally, and I'm going to inch my way back in.

I will say this, as I look back on this year, the year I've blogged the absolute least, I can say God has been very, very good to me. I have everything to be thankful for and nothing to complain about. In fact, it was exactly a year ago tomorrow that I had my last day on staff at CBC and my world was about to change dramatically.

But that's another post for another day. Hot darn. Material to write about. Who knew?

iPhone Dump: It's All I've Got

So, how do you return to blogging after an almost two month hiatus? You do an iPhone dump. Last year those specific entries became my "go to" when I was out of ideas, but quickly became some of my favorites, so why not start with something I love?

Truth be told, when I logged onto Blogger tonight, I gasped! Everything is different. Apparently Blogger had a make-over during my absence and I'm now having to pay for that as I re-learn how to upload a photo and type a sentence. It's exhausting, y'all!

Last week I got an email from my dad titled "15 Tips on Blogging from John Newton" and I laughed because if that's not a small hint to post something, I don't know what is. I can guarantee you John Newton didn't add "take seven weeks off!" to his list, so don't take any advice on blogging from me. Dad has been keeping me up to date on how long it's been since I last posted and even has threatened to do a guest blog. So here goes nothing. Thank you, Dad!

Mirrors are so 2011. Who needs them when we have face time?

Can I get an amen?

I just ran across this the other night. Made me laugh so hard! My head has gone missing. My friend Sara took this picture at Passion and I'm still not sure what happened.

Freshly hatched baby chicks at the rodeo. They're sleepy. Can you imagine busting out of an egg all by yourself? Precious.

This year at the Houston Rodeo I got to see Lady Antebellum and Train. I love the rodeo so much!

My sweet friend Jen is weeks away from having a baby! This was at one of her showers. I cannot wait!

I bought this card for my BFF who lives in Alabama. Perfection. I miss her face.

You never know what could take place on our balcony. On this particular day Bethany gave Ben a haircut. I was concerned for his safety, but all ended well.

On the way to our half-marathon in Dallas the first gas station we stopped at was selling hard-boiled eggs. Um, are you as disturbed as me? Shouldn't they at least be refrigerated?

One of my favorite pictures from the half-marathon. I can't take credit for the actual picture itself, but I did do some Instagram work to it. Have I mentioned my obsession with Instagram before? It's not new.

In case you've been wondering since March 19th if I finished the race, that would be a YES! This picture shows my pure glee of being DONE!

Indeed. This was the background on my phone for some time.

Christy Nockels came to Houston for a Brown Bag concert that KSBJ put on. She is wonderful. And gifted.

My boss asked me to measure a few things one day and send her the measurements. I later sent her this text. Have I ever mentioned that I am a visual learner?

A few weeks ago the roomies and I had a night out. All was going so well until I lost my cupcake. Tragedy.

Back in April I had the sweet privilege of speaking at the Aggie Sisters for Christ retreat in College Station. I seriously loved them so much. I took this right as we got started with worship Friday night.

After getting home one night, I quickly realized I was locked out until my roommate came to the rescue. No way was I going to put my key or hand close to him. He was just chillin'.

The other night my roommate and I did Shred (Jillian Michaels workout DVD) together and since we only have one set of weights, she improvised. Ragu and vegetable oil. She told me she was sore the next day! Ha!

Sometimes at the ministry we have to use hair tools to fix things. This particular day it was the smoke alarm. I know, it makes no sense, but you have to trust me on this one!

Houston had about two weeks of incredible weather. I took that opportunity and created my office space outside. So refreshing!

It's unfortunate when a husband and wife own a restaurant and go out of town leaving the place abandon. Especially when you meet your best friend for lunch there and have to relocate. But it's also hilarious!

This much Vera Bradley can only mean one thing: Girls road trip! : )

I spent a weekend at this lake for my dear friend, Raven's, bachelorette party. It was heavenly.

Raven, the bride. Is it that obvious?! In less than two weeks she'll be Mrs. Jones! Woo hoo!

We celebrated at Joe T Garcia's in Fort Worth that weekend and this was the line we waited in to get in. Absolutely insane!

The lake. On Instagram. I'm obsessed.

We had a few storms come through Houston, so much so, it took down this tree right outside my apartment. Wild!

About two weeks ago we had baptisms at BCF and baptized over 25 people. Y'all, it might have been my favorite Sunday morning ever. Such a sweet day. I love my church so much.

I got to travel with this sweet lady (and also my boss!) to Dallas for the first time to the PINK Impact conference at Gateway Church. It was such a privilege and honor to do so. We had the best time!

Worship with Kari Jobe to start out PINK weekend. So incredible.

I'll never forget the opening of the conference, especially these dancers. They were truly worshipping, y'all, and had THE biggest smiles I've ever seen. So neat. So powerful.

I'm not sure how this appears to you, but upon first glance, I thought it was a bear jumping on a trampoline. I laughed so hard I cried. And then I read it was a bear getting tranquilized out of a tree in Boulder, Colorado. Sweet mercy.

My best friend for life is about to give birth to her firstborn. I had the great honor of getting to throw her a shower with her sisters. I already love this baby so much!

Baby Love banner. Pinterest inspired.

I also may or may not have purchased this for Baby Girl Isaminger. Y'all, my wallet is feeling the pain of these babies and weddings coming up. But I would have it no other way!

My mother is emoticon queen. Every now and then I like to share a good one with my peeps. They make her so happy. And honestly, this one is MILD!

My compassion boy, Jhon, gets more and more of my heart every time I get a letter from him. This particular day he asked what my favorite flower was. Melt my heart.

I'm a girly girl, but working at LPM has almost been a shock to my system. Like for instance, last Thursday when after hours became beauty shop. My co-workers put my hair in this ponytail. And were so proud. I secretly loved it. Only at LPM.

I've spent some quality time here recently.

My co-worker and friend Nancy was so generous to give me and my co-workers tickets to the Casting Crowns concert this past Saturday at the Woodlands Pavilion. However, our real reason for being there was to see Lindsay McCaul, who happens to be her daughter-in-law. This was out on the lawn that night! It was packed!

My friend Angela and I at the concert!

A few of us from LPM with Lindsay! We were missing a few for the picture. So sad. But so thankful to Nancy for being so generous that night with us.

My mom's recital was this past Sunday. I've been to a few recitals in my day, but this father-daughter duo was a first. So precious!

Snail mail fills my love tank. And on this particular day, this sweet note and scripture cards from my friend Callie made my day! How precious are they? Thank you so much, Callie! You are wonderful!

Well, if that wasn't the most riveting revival of a post I'm not sure what was. Thank you for suffering through that with me.

Here's to blogging more frequently!